18-200mm reach

Sony has also announced a new 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 telephoto zoom lens to sit alongside its newly announced NEX-F3 compact system camera.

The lens, which is a successor, but not a replacement, for the previous 18-200mm iteration, offers an 11x zoom range in a lighter and smaller unit.

Approximately 12 per cent lighter than its predecessor, the lens is fitted with Optical SteadyShot, which is designed to compensate for the effects of hand-shake. Manual focus is also available for precise control.

The new lens is aimed primarily at NEX photographers who like to travel with the camera, but Sony is continuing the previous version of the camera.

Sony says that the original version is more suited to video recording, whereas this one provides a lighter option for those primarily using the camera for stills photography.

Launched at the same time as the NEX-F3 compact system camera, the price of the lens has not yet been made official.